Dear Artists,
When Loods6 invited us to collaborate on a new edition of Dead Darlings hosted at their historical water-front location, we didn’t hesitate to dive right in! The proximity and connection to the water, the symbolic nature of a harbour as the beginning and end of an adventure, were impossible to resist.
We reflected on what lies beyond the safe haven of a harbour, in the journey of an artists’ process. The monsters and temptations that get in our way, but also the wisdom and enlightenment that come with experiencing and overcoming those obstacles.
Once we are out at sea, surrounded by the unknown, what do we make of the siren’s song, the Lestygonians and the cyclops? Do they represent procrastination, side-quests, loss of focus, distraction from the journey leading away from artistic goals? Or do they stand for the inspiration, turmoil, experimentation, failure, and doubt leading the way to new and exciting work?
This could be as much a philosophical question as an artistic one, and it’s also the theme of our open call: Siren Song — Doom or Destiny?
Perhaps a question only your dead darling can resolve.
We want to know: where in your journey did you hear the siren’s song? What did it sound like, where was it coming from and where did it lead you? What did you have to kill in its wake?
Did you plug your ears with wax, listen while tied to the mast, or willingly crash into the rocks?
We want to know what became of the work that didn’t make it safely to the harbour. Did you fail it? Or did you set it free?Respond to our open call and let’s find out together!
Dead Darlings started as a subversive, anonymous art auction in Amsterdam in 2005. It has since grown into an international platform with a mission to explore the often fraught, always complex relationship between the price and the value of an artwork.
Our focus is on artefacts whose value is ambiguous: dead darlings. Sometimes they are put aside for the sake of the final result; sometimes because they are too different, they don’t fit in. They are the stars of our show: undervalued, misunderstood, yet meaningful and beloved outcasts of an artist’s practice. They fall between the cracks, holding no monetary value and lacking a context in which to be exhibited or sold. That’s where we, the Dead Darlings Collective, step in and provide one!
We create a platform to (re)consider their worth from a different perspective. Works are auctioned anonymously, no one knows who made what until after the sale. We extend the label of “art collector” to people who might not otherwise be able to afford original contemporary artworks. We bring something “unseen” into the public eye. Our philosophy is to feature established, alongside emerging and more obscure voices — leveling the playing field and reflecting on why a work becomes a dead darling, challenging ideas of value, demand, desirability, and commerce. Through years of presenting these works at our auctions, we’ve been able to expand on the notion of what makes a dead darling dead — and, more importantly, what can bring it back to life.
Where ships once docked and cocoa was unloaded, a creative hub began to take shape in the 1980s. The long waterfront warehouse, built in 1921 and later used as a luxury passenger terminal, evolved into LOODS6: a distinctive creative complex on Amsterdam’s IJ waterfront, home to studios, workspaces, shops and spaces for art and culture.
Since 1987, LOODS6 has been home to a unique community of artists, designers, makers and creative entrepreneurs. By providing affordable workspaces alongside a mix of public and cultural functions, the building became a pioneering example within Amsterdam’s creative incubator policy, while preserving its monumental character and original industrial architecture.
Today, LOODS6 continues to build on this history. Alongside being a place to work and create, it is increasingly developing into a public cultural destination. Through its own cultural programme of exhibitions, presentations, performances and other events, Loods6 brings together makers, audiences and different disciplines. Its monumental spaces are not merely a backdrop, but regularly play an active role in the work developed and presented here.
In this way, LOODS6 remains what it has been for almost forty years: a place for art, makers, experimentation and encounter, at the heart of an ever-changing Amsterdam.
Dear Artists,
When Lood6 invited us to collaborate on a new edition of Dead Darlings hosted at their historical water-font location, we didn’t hesitate to dive right in! The proximity and connection to the water, the symbolic nature of a harbour as the beginning and end of an adventure, were impossible to resist.
We reflected on what lies beyond the safe haven of a harbour, in the journey of an artists’ process. The monsters and temptations that get in our way, but also the wisdom and enlightenment that come with experiencing and overcoming those obstacles.
Once we are out at sea, surrounded by the unknown, what do we make of the siren’s song, the Lestygonians and the cyclops? Do they represent procrastination, side-quests, loss of focus, distraction from the journey leading away from artistic goals? Or do they stand for the inspiration, turmoil, experimentation, failure, and doubt leading the way to new and exciting work?
This could be as much a philosophical question as an artistic one, and it’s also the theme of our open call: Siren Song — Doom or Destiny?
Perhaps a question only your dead darling can resolve.
We want to know: where in your journey did you hear the siren’s song? What did it sound like, where was it coming from and where did it lead you? What did you have to kill in its wake?
Did you plug your ears with wax, listen while tied to the mast, or willingly crash into the rocks?
We want to know what became of the work that didn’t make it safely to the harbour. Did you fail it? Or did you set it free? Respond to our open call and let’s find out together!
Dead Darlings
Dead Darlings started as a subversive, anonymous art auction in Amsterdam in 2005. It has since grown into an international platform with a mission to explore the often fraught, always complex relationship between the price and the value of an artwork.
Our focus is on artefacts whose value is ambiguous: dead darlings. Sometimes they are put aside for the sake of the final result; sometimes because they are too different, they don’t fit in. They are the stars of our show: undervalued, misunderstood, yet meaningful and beloved outcasts of an artist’s practice. They fall between the cracks, holding no monetary value and lacking a context in which to be exhibited or sold. That’s where we, the Dead Darlings Collective, step in and provide one!
We create a platform to (re)consider their worth from a different perspective. Works are auctioned anonymously, no one knows who made what until after the sale. We extend the label of “art collector” to people who might not otherwise be able to afford original contemporary artworks. We bring something “unseen” into the public eye. Our philosophy is to feature established, alongside emerging and more obscure voices — leveling the playing field and reflecting on why a work becomes a dead darling, challenging ideas of value, demand, desirability, and commerce. Through years of presenting these works at our auctions, we’ve been able to expand on the notion of what makes a dead darling dead — and, more importantly, what can bring it back to life.
Where ships once docked and cocoa was unloaded, a creative hub began to take shape in the 1980s. The long waterfront warehouse, built in 1921 and later used as a luxury passenger terminal, evolved into LOODS6: a distinctive creative complex on Amsterdam’s IJ waterfront, home to studios, workspaces, shops and spaces for art and culture.
Since 1987, LOODS6 has been home to a unique community of artists, designers, makers and creative entrepreneurs. By providing affordable workspaces alongside a mix of public and cultural functions, the building became a pioneering example within Amsterdam’s creative incubator policy, while preserving its monumental character and original industrial architecture.
Today, LOODS6 continues to build on this history. Alongside being a place to work and create, it is increasingly developing into a public cultural destination. Through its own cultural programme of exhibitions, presentations, performances and other events, Loods6 brings together makers, audiences and different disciplines. Its monumental spaces are not merely a backdrop, but regularly play an active role in the work developed and presented here.
In this way, LOODS6 remains what it has been for almost forty years: a place for art, makers, experimentation and encounter, at the heart of an ever-changing Amsterdam.